Electronic Pest Control

Electronic pest control devices, such as the Black & Decker electronic pest repeller, have in recent times become quite popular and the object of much advertisement. This newfound popularity (they’ve actually been around for about 20 years) probably has to due with increasing awareness of the negative effects of pesticides on the environment and wildlife.

Claims regarding the effectiveness of these electronic pest repellent devices vary widely. Some consumers say that electronic pest control devices work wonders, while others say that they’ve had no success with them at all. Scientifically, it looks like there’s not hard evidence to back up claims of effectiveness, especially over other methods of pest control. What’s more, no concrete tests have been done to really prove whether they are completely harmless to other animals, including humans.

Electronic pest repeller devices can be divided into two categories: ultrasonic and electromagnetic. The first types of electronic pest repellers give off short wavelength, high frequency sound waves, which manufacturers of these devices claim have special repellent properties. Humans aren’t able to hear this sound and so aren’t bothered by it. Evidence has shown that some insects initially seem uncomfortable when hearing ultrasound (whether it’s emitted at uniform or changing frequencies), but eventually adjust to it and ignore it; rodents reacted the same way.

No pest seemed to back away and try to escape from the ultrasound “pest offence” electronic repeller strategy. Ultrasound can give a temporary result (in some cases, keeping rodents away for anywhere between a few minutes to a few days), but pests almost always return and continue being pests. Some initial scientific evidence suggests that ultrasound may be effective as a pest repellent, but that how effective it is depends on intensity of the ultrasound, its frequency and also the condition of your pest population. Ultrasound at high intensities may repel pests, but it may also damage humans and pets; electronic pest control units on the market are not capable of producing intense ultrasound.

The second category of electronic pest control devices includes electromagnetic devices. These devices supposedly alter the electromagnetic field of the wiring in your house to create extremely hostile conditions for all pests, causing them to abandon ship and leave your house pest free. In reality, however, these electromagnetic pest control devices generate only very small electromagnetic field alterations. Serious doubts exist as to whether pests can actually detect these minor alterations and whether they are repelled by them even if they can detect them; for sure these are not effective outside electronic pest control devices.

So to answer the question, “Do electronic pest repellers really work?”, the jury is still out. Scientific evidence tends to lean towards a “No”, while the experience of some consumers with both outdoor electronic pest repellent devices and indoor ones seems to have been very positive. If you can find an electronic “pest free” repeller that doesn’t cost an exorbitant amount of money, try it out for yourself to see if you can answer the question.